


You're Almost There

by peerpressure



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Depression, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-11 16:35:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1175316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peerpressure/pseuds/peerpressure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is so very, very sad and it breaks Liam's heart because he does his best to help but it's not enough.</p><p>But then Niall comes along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're Almost There

**Author's Note:**

> This is not beta'd, so errors might occur. Sorry about that.
> 
> find me at horansheroes.tumblr.com

On a second thought, Liam should probably have seen this coming. Harry’s been unhappy for far too long now, of course this would happen. And what kind of rubbish best friend is Liam, who just - let it happen?

Liam sits on Harry’s sofa with his best friend’s curly head in his lap. He gently strokes the dark brown, unwashed hair. It’s a lot greasier than normally.

”How long has it been since you showered?”

”Dunno, a... Week, or something, I guess” comes the whispered answer, like Harry’s too weak to speak up properly. 

And well, a week would explain the smell radiating from Harry’s body. His body that is curled up on his side, his arms hugging his legs. Liam continues to stroke his hair and makes sure to scrape his nails lightly on his scalp, because Harry’s always liked that. Harry’s breath is warm on his jeans.

Liam got the phone call a few hours ago. He was sleeping when his phone got off and he’d turned the light on to see what time it was - 2.36 - and then wondered who the fuck would be calling him at this hour on a Thursday night. He’d looked at the caller ID and his heart sank in his chest.

”Hello?” he’d answered, and was immediately met by shaky breathing and a weak voice.

”Liam? Liam, I need you to come over, right now.”

Liam didn’t even think, didn’t even question it before he threw on some clothes and grabbed his keys. He was out of the door and starting his car in three minutes and then he let himself in in Harry’s flat nine minutes later.

He’d found Harry in a pile on the floor of the dark flat, shaking. His hand was clutching his phone so hard his knuckles had turned white and there were gross sobs coming from his mouth. Liam had fallen to his knees, touched Harry’s arm, just gently, and said: ”I’m here” and the gross sobbing had turned into gross crying.

Harry’s stopped crying now. His tears eventually ran out, both his and Liam’s tee shirts soaked wet and Liam had lifted him up on the sofa. He’d turned on the telly and switched to Animal Planet. It’s a documentary on penguins.

”Did you know” Harry whispers from his lap ”that Adelie penguins mate for life?”

”I didn’t.”

The thing about Harry is that he lives a rich life. He has a recently started career in publishing (now, Liam’s not exactly sure what it is that Harry’s doing, just that he’s good at it) that he absolutely loves and is so, so proud of. He’s got a family back home in Holmes Chapel that he visits once a month and his mum calls him several times a week to chat. He’s got Liam, his best friend that he’s known since they were eight and Liam helped Harry when he’d fallen from a tree. And he’s got Zayn and Louis, both two wonderful people Liam and Harry met at uni.

The thing about Harry is that he lives a rich life, in many aspects. But he considers himself poor in the area he cares about the most.

Liam first realised this a few years back in uni when Louis got himself a girlfriend and Harry told Liam:

”I wish I had something like that.”

And he’d looked at Liam with a smile, but his eyes had been sad, and that’s when Liam knew that despite being surrounded by people who loved him, Harry constantly felt lonely.

It didn’t get better after that. When they graduated uni at the age of 22, people all around them fell in and out of relationships. Even Liam. But not Harry. Harry had stood on the side, watching the world turn red in the colour of love around him. Liam saw, he’d seen how lonely Harry had been, and he’d tried to help, he swears he did. He tried to show Harry how much he meant, how much he cared for him, how loved he was in the hopes that for now, it would be enough.

This past week has been particularly bad. Harry’s not a person who shows that he’s sad. To the rest of the world, he is the happy Harry Styles he’s always been. He lets down his guard when he and Liam are alone, but Liam’s always known that not even he gets to see everything.

But this week had been bad. He and Harry had, since they both got jobs, managed to schedule their lunches so they had it together. They always meet up somewhere in the middle from their jobs (Liam works in finance, it doesn’t sound nearly as cool as what Harry’s doing but it pays off good enough) and have lunch together. This hadn’t changed this week. But Harry had been down, hadn’t laughed like he usually does and the usual light in his eyes weren’t there. Liam doesn’t know what had set him off, what it was that had made him so sad so suddenly, but it doesn’t really matter because Harry is now very, very sad.

Of course Harry would break down at some point. He is a very strong person, but even the strongest fall at some point. Liam’s just sad that he can’t do more.

”I’m sorry, Harry” he says and strokes him thumb over Harry’s cheek. It’s still moist from his tears.

Harry lets go of his legs with one arm and grabs Liam’s hand where it lays on his face and his grip is so strong and desperate that Liam’s heart ache. Harry doesn’t say anything, he just clutches Liam’s hand like it’s his only chance of surviving.

Liam checks the time on his phone. It’s almost 4 in the morning. Neither of them is definitely going to work tomorrow, but they could both use some sleep. He doesn’t want to remove his hand from Harry’s death grip, so he uses his other hand to stroke down Harry’s side and it’s an awkward angle but it doesn’t matter.

”Come on Harry, let’s go to bed” he whispers. Harry lets out what sounds awfully like a whimper, but releases Liam’s hand. Liam flexes his fingers to get the blood circulation going. He manages to get his hands under Harry’s armpits and then lifts his upper body so he’s sitting up. He strokes down Harry’s warm back and then stands up.

Harry’s not looking at him, but down on his lap where his hands are loosely entwined. Liam leans down and takes them gently in his own hands, just lets them rest there before hoisting Harry up. 

And Harry looks at him. His eyes are red and puffy, his lips swollen from where he’s been biting himself, his nose runny and he looks so fucking tired that Liam wants to cry.

But he doesn’t. Instead, he tugs at Harry’s arm and walks backwards, leads Harry to his room without breaking his gaze. They walk through the dark flat slowly, Harry on unsteady, shaky legs. When they get to the bed, Liam lets go of Harry’s hands to straighten out the sheets. He fluffs the pillows and shakes the duvet before turning to Harry again.

He grabs the hem of his tee shirt and Harry raises his arms weakly to let Liam tug it over his head. He unbuckles Harry’s belt, unzips the fly and drags his skin tight trousers down his legs so that they pool around his ankles. He kneels down and with a hand at the back of Harry’s shin he lifts his leg up to remove the clothing completely. Harry’s hand comes to rest at his shoulder for support and Liam does the other leg as well and takes off his socks.

He raises to standing again and asks if Harry wants to sleep i just his boxers or a tee shirt as well. He doesn’t get an answer so he takes Harry’s hand again and leads him closer to the mattress. He pushes gently at his shoulders until he sits down. Liam leans down and cups Harry’s cheeks gently.

”Lay down for me, okay?”

It takes a second, but then Harry closes his eyes and shuffle over so he’s close to the wall and then lays down with his head on the pillow. He opens his eyes and look at Liam and Liam thinks that he’s never looked so vulnerable before.

”That’s great, Harry” he praises him in a whisper and then hurries to take off his own clothes. He slides down next to Harry and pulls the duvet over them before gathering Harry in his arms. Harry is just as big as him, even a bit taller, but he shrinks several sizes in Liam’s arms. 

Liam entwines his legs with Harry’s and tightens his grip around his torso. Harry’s hands rest against Liam’s chest in tight fists. Liam loosens his grip with one arm and brings his hand to Harry’s, strokes his fingers slowly.

”Try to relax” he whisper and gently forces Harry to open his hands. He kisses both palms and then places them flat against his chest again. He whispers a ”thank you” and then returns to holding him close.

”We don’t have to sleep” he whispers against Harry’s hair. ”We can just lay here, if you want. I won’t go anywhere, I promise. I’ll be here. I’ll always be here.”

Harry lets out a shaky breath against his neck and Liam holds him even closer, presses him flush against himself.

”Thank you” Harry whispers and Liam closes his eyes tightly because this shouldn’t have to happen, they shouldn’t have to be in this situation. If only he had been a better friend, if only he had done something, maybe Harry would be okay.

He can see the sun slowly rising through the blinds when Harry’s breath finally evens out and he can feel him fully relax in his arms. He whispers a low ”Harry?” to check that he’s asleep before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

\--

They spend the Friday in Harry’s bed. Liam gets up once to make them tea and calling them both sick in from work, promising Harry that he’ll be back in a few minutes and gently forcing Harry’s grabbing hands off his arm. He comes back balancing a tray. 

”You should eat something” he says and places the tray on Harry’s nightstand. He crawls back under the duvet and reaches out to grab a banana. He opens it and holds it out for Harry who doesn’t take it. Liam gently touches his bicep and shuffles closer.

”Just a few bites, we’ll share” he offers and takes the first bite before bringing the banana to Harry’s mouth. Harry takes an incredibly small bite and Liam partly wants to laugh, partly cry. He does neither, he just nods and takes another bite himself. They eat the whole banana like that, altering bites. And yeah, Liam eats most of it but it’s better than nothing. 

He coaxes Harry up in a more sitting position after that and then hands him his cup of tea. Harry takes the cup in trembling hands and blows the warm liquid before taking one, two, three sips. He hands the cup back to Liam. Liam takes it and lets Harry slide back under the covers. He places the cup on the tray and lays down again to engulf Harry in his arms.

\--

When Saturday comes, Liam can feel his stomach rumble with hunger. He strokes Harry’s now freakishly greasy hair and gives him a small smile.

”You hungry?” 

Harry shakes his head. His eyes aren’t red and puffy anymore, but his lip still looks sore and he looks just as tired. Liam thinks that maybe Harry is tired in a way that sleep can’t cure.

”Well I am” he says and strokes down Harry’s face. Starting at his forehead, down his temple, his cheekbone down to his chin. 

”So here’s what we’ll do,” he continues, his hand now trailing down Harry’s neck, tracing his collarbone and coming down to rest against his upper arm. ”We’ll get out of this bed. We’re going to shower, get dressed and go out for lunch somewhere.”

”No, I - I can’t” Harry whispers and Liam doesn’t know what to do. Does he force him out of bed? Does he let him be? He compromises.

”We’ll come back and we can get into bed again, we just need some fresh air first.”

Harry looks unsure.

”I promise” Liam says and when Harry doesn’t respond, he decides to take it as a yes. He lets go of Harry and gets out of bed, reaching out to help Harry get up. He looks incredibly weak, but Liam smiles encouragingly at him. He leads him to his bathroom and turns on the water to get it warm.

”Can you handle it on your own or do you need me?” He hopes Harry can manage. He’s gotten to know Harry’s body in a way he never has before these past 24 hours and it’s not like he hasn’t seen Harry naked before, but - this is a whole new intimacy that he doesn’t want.

”I can do it” Harry whispers and Liam nods thankfully. He sits down on the toilet seat.

”Do you want me to stay in here?”

Harry nods and then tries to take off his boxers with trembling hands. Liam crumbles at the sight and gets up from the toilet to help Harry remove them. He can see Harry’s eyes water and he hates himself. So he helps Harry inside and then quickly undresses, gets in with him, shuts the curtain behind them. He ushers Harry in under the now hot water and takes the shampoo bottle to squeeze some in his hand. He moves closer and starts massaging the shampoo in Harry’s hair.

Harry starts to sob and his tears blend in with the water. Liam moves even closer and Harry lets his head fall down on Liam’s shoulder. Liam continues to massage his hair and the angle’s a bit weird so he gets shampoo in his own face. He cleans his own hair as Harry continues to cry on his shoulder.

Liam gently forces his head up and guides him in under the streaming water again, rinses his hair and then leans over to rinse his own. Then he grabs the soap and starts to clean Harry’s body. Harry is shaking with sobs under his hands so Liam lets his hands circle on his chest, right over his heart, for a little longer. He does his arms, hands, shoulders, back, sides and stomach.

And Liam has to force down the lump growing in his throat when he kneels down to clean his legs. Harry begins to cry even harder and Liam looks up to see him pressing the heels of his soapy palms to his eyes. Liam quickly scrambles to his feet to try to get his hands from his face.

But Harry turns around. With his back at Liam, he lets the water wash him clean. His broken sobs tears Liam apart and he doesn’t bother with cleaning himself, he just shuts the water off once Harry’s body is free from soap. He gets out of the shower and produces two towels from the cabinet. He quickly ties one around his waist and the reaches out to cover Harry with the other.

He sits down on the toilet seat again and looks up at his best friend. He’s got a two day’s stubble, tattoos all over his upper body, strong muscles under his skin and everything about him screams man. But he’s standing in the middle of his bathroom, dripping with water and crying and he’s not a man, he’s a little boy who is so very, very sad.

Liam wants to make it better, wants so badly to just heal his heart and take those horrible sobs away. But he doesn’t know how. How do you make someone better?

”We don’t have to go out, Harry, it’s okay. We can eat something here” he says gently and reaches out to touch Harry’s wrist.

Harry shakes his head and visibly tries to force his sobs back.

”No, you wanted to. We’ll go out.”

Liam feels so bad for forcing him through this pain. Why, why is he such a horrible person?

He takes a deep breath and stands up. He holds a finger up to Harry to show that he’ll be back in a minute and then hurries over to Harry’s closet.

When he returns to the bathroom, Harry’s not dripping wet anymore. Liam helps him into a clean pair of boxers, his tight jeans and a jumper. He grabbed some clothes for himself, too, and he puts those on. 

He gets Harry to sit down on the toilet seat and towel dries his hair. Harry doesn’t look at him. Liam puts two pairs of socks on his feet and leads him out into the hallway. He gets Harry into a pair of shoes, a beanie and a jacket. Harry still doesn’t look at him when he puts on his own clothes.

When he grabs his car keys, Harry reaches out to touch his arm. He still doesn’t look at him when he whispers:

”I’m sorry you had to do that.”

And Liam realises that Harry is embarrassed. And that hurts maybe more than anything. He wraps his arms around Harry’s body.

”I’d do anything for you, Harry.”

Liam drives them to a small restaurant he visited once with a girlfriend. He thinks he remembers that they had really good grilled sandwiches. 

When they park, Liam reaches a hand over the gear and gently touches Harry’s. Harry looks up at him.

”You’ll be fine, I promise. I’m here.”

He doesn’t know if he means just right now at the restaurant or in general, but both is accurate. 

Harry nods and then opens his door. 

Liam opens the door for him when they enter the restaurant and then points to a free table in the back. They slowly make their way over there and sit down, Harry with his back to the rest of the customers. It’s not very crowded, thankfully.

Liam picks up his menu and scans it. Harry doesn’t touch his.

”How about soup, Harry? Or maybe a grilled sandwich, they’re great.”

”I’ll have the soup” Harry whispers and looks up at Liam for a second. Liam reaches over to gently tug at a stray curl that peaks out from under the beanie.

”Hey, it’s okay, Harry, I promise.”

He’s made a lot of promises theses last few days.

Harry looks up again and gives him a small smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, but it’s the best he’s got so far. He takes off his beanie and ruffles his hair a little before looking down again.

”Hello, welcome to Mary’s!” a cheery voice suddenly says. ”What can I do for you today?”

Liam looks up and sees a young, blond man that seems to be in his and Harry’s age. He’s wearing a green apron and has a small notepad in his hand. And he’s smiling so brightly, like it’s the best thing that could happen to him today, serving Liam and Harry.

”Hi” says Liam and smiles back. ”We’ll have two soup of the day and-” he looks at Harry for a second and the blond waiter does the same. A frown replaces his smile.

”Two waters and two teas, thank you” Liam finishes and looks back at the waiter, but he’s still looking at Harry. Liam looks at his name tag. Niall. He looks at Harry, his hunched shoulders, his hands in his lap and his face down.

Niall crouches down next to Harry and gently pokes his shoulder before Liam can react. He can see Harry stiffen and then look up.

Niall smiles at him. ”Hi.”

Liam sees Harry’s mouth falling open into a small ’o’ and his sad eyes widen slightly.

Niall touches his shoulder once more, his smile turning into a small frown again.

”You okay, mate?”

Harry shakes his head, just visibly. 

Niall’s brows draw together and Liam hopes, hopes, that he won’t say anything bad.

”Well” Niall says. ”Life gets that way, sometimes. But I bet you some soup’ll make it better!”

He stands up and throws them both a big smile before disappearing off into the kitchen. Harry turns to Liam.

”He’s pretty” he breathes out and Liam can’t help a chuckle letting out.

”Yeah, and Irish” he says and winks. Harry doesn’t laugh like he normally would. He just smiles again, but it comes out more as a grimace. 

They sit in quiet until Niall comes back a few minutes later with their drinks on a tray. He places Liam’s tea and water in front of him and then shuffles over to Harry. He takes his time to place the glass and the mug carefully on the table. Then he turns to Liam again.

”You shouldn’t let your date sit here and be all sad” he says, and both Liam and Harry freezes.

”Um” Liam starts, but Harry interrupts him by whispering:

”We’re not on a date.”

Liam hates how Harry’s only been whispering these last few days.

”Oh” Niall says and then smiles at Harry. ”That’s good, because otherwise I was going to punch him.”

Liam snorts, because while Niall doesn’t look weak, Liam could definitely take him. Harry must realise the same thing, because he smiles a little. Niall smiles even wider at this and walks off again. Liam leans over the table.

”You should ask for his number” he says, before realising that maybe it was the wrong thing to say. Harry’s face fall and he looks down at his hands.

”I’m - I’m sorry, Harry” he tries but Harry shuts him off with a shake of his head.

”It’s fine, Liam” he whispers but his voice reveals that he’s actually not. Liam wants to kill himself for making it worse.

Niall comes back, this time with two steaming bowls of soup. He puts them down on the table and then seems to hesitate. When he opens his mouth, Liam can’t help but notice with delight, that he speaks more to Harry than to the both of them.

”I’m Niall.”

Harry blinks at him.

”I know” he whispers and points to Niall’s name tag. Niall looks down and then at Harry again with a faint blush on his cheeks.

”What’s your name then?”

”Harry.” Harry hesitates for a second before lamely waving a hand in Liam’s direction before dropping it back down in his lap. ”And that’s Liam.”

Niall turns his head to Liam and smiles a little sheepishly. Liam smiles back and tries to make it say that it’s fine, it’s more than fine. Niall turns back to Harry and offers a hand.

”It’s nice meeting you.”

Harry looks at the waiting hand and then slowly reaches out with a shaking hand to grab it. Liam sees how Niall looks back and forth between Harry’s face and hand as it nears his. Niall reaches out a little further and Liam’s heart nearly melts by how gently he takes it. He sees Harry let out a shaky breath and look up at Niall, wonder written in his sad face. Niall smiles brightly at him before letting go and walking off again. Harry looks after him and then at his soup.

”What kind of soup is it?” he whispers and Liam has to take a closer look at his bowl.

”I’m not sure” he says slowly and pokes in his bowl with his spoon. ”But it seems to be some vegetables in it, I bet it’s delicious.”

The soup’s fine. Not the best he’s had but not the worst. But it doesn’t matter, because Harry eats. Not much, but he eats. A few spoonfuls and he dips a bit of the bread. And he drinks some of the tea and almost all of the water.

Liam knows he should be worried that Harry eats so little, but he knows that when he himself feels even the tiniest bit sad, he doesn’t want to eat at all. Louis’ the complete opposite - he eats everything when he’s sad. But Liam guesses that Harry’s like Liam, he doesn’t want to eat. And with how sad he is now, Liam’s just glad he’s eating at all.

When Liam’s finished and almost all of Harry’s soup is left, Harry starts to rise from his chair. 

”I’m just going to the loo” he whispers when Liam looks at him. Liam hesitates before asking:

”Do you want me to come with you?”

Harry’s cheeks tint light red but he actually seems to consider Liam’s offer. Liam is taken aback by how bad it must be. Eventually, Harry shakes his head. He walks slowly to the restrooms and Liam watches his back all the way until the door shuts behind him. He sighs and turns back to the table and puts his head in his hands.

A finger pokes him on the shoulder and he looks up. Niall is standing there, but he’s not smiling. He nods towards Harry’s bowl.

”He barely touched his soup.”

Liam nods and sighs again.

”Are you, um, is it sure that you’re not on a date?”

Liam looks up at him curiously. 

”Yeah, we’re just, he’s my best friend.”

Niall blushes a little.

”Is he, does he, you know, fancy blokes?”

Liam nods, a wide smile spreading on his face. But then he thinks again and his smile falters.

”Niall, Harry is, Harry is not really okay right now” he says slowly. 

”Yeah, I kind of got that” Niall mumbles and fiddles with the rope on his apron.

”He doesn’t really need any sort of... Negativity, in his life right now” Liam says, trying not to say right out that Niall can absolutely not play with his heart, because he doesn’t even know the blond’s intentions.

”If I can say so myself, I’m a positive person” Niall says with a smile. Liam wants to believe, he really wants to.

But he saw the way Harry looked at Niall, how even though he’s so sad his entire body is shaking, Niall still managed to get a small smile out of him. Niall managed to get his attention even when his world has fallen apart. Liam knows, he knows, that Niall is already dangerous to Harry.

Liam hesitates. Niall sighs.

”It’s fine, I get it, mate.”

”It’s just, I can’t have him to get hurt, you know?”

Niall looks at him with an unreadable look and it makes Liam a little awkward.

”I understand” he says and he almost sounds a little sad. ”But like, I think he’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever met and I felt these sparks when we touched, you know?”

Niall’s blushing again. 

”You should see him when he’s not a wreck” Liam says, because if Niall thinks Harry is beautiful now, with chapped lips and tired, blank eyes, he’d find him magnificent when he actually looks like himself. Liam is not blind to beauty - he knows that Harry is one of the most beautiful people in the world.

Harry, who’s been in the toilet for a very long time now. Liam scrambles to his feet.

”Sorry, I should just-” he cuts himself off by walking away. He pushes the door open to the restroom and looks inside. There two stalls and a row of urinals. Harry’s nowhere to be seen.

It smells awful.

”Harry?” Liam walks to the stalls and crouch down to check if there’s a pair of feet somewhere. There is in the second stall and the shoes look very much like Harry’s. Liam stands up and knocks.

”Harry?”

A very low, so low he can’t almost hear it, ”yes?” comes through the door.

”Can I, can I come in?”

The door unlocks and Liam opens it to peek inside. Harry’s sitting on the closed toilet seat, fully clothed. His eyes are red and puffy. He’s fiddling with his hands in his lip and Liam can see flaky, red irritated skin around his fingernails. Liam opens the door fully and crouches down in front of Harry to take his trembling hands in his own. He looks up into those sad, green eyes.

”Do you want to go home?”

Harry nods.

”This was a bad idea, I’m sorry.”

Harry shakes his head and tries to smile, but Liam just pulls him up and hugs him close to his chest. They stand there for a few minutes until Liam can’t stand the smell anymore.

They walk back into the restaurant, Harry first with Liam’s hand on his back. On their table, the bowls are gone and replaced with the bill. Harry takes his beanie from the table and puts it on his head with trembling fingers while Liam opens his wallet and puts a few notes on the table.

”Um, Harry?”

Both of them turn around at the sound of the Irish accent. Niall’s standing there, looking nervous. He holds a small, folded paper out to Harry. Harry takes it slowly and holds it in his hand.

”I - it’s my number” Niall says, almost fumbling over the words. He doesn’t look at Liam. ”You, uh, I’d love to see you again, sometime. You can use that if you’d feel like it.” He points to the paper in Harry’s hand. Harry looks down on it and then back at Niall.

Liam studies him carefully.

Harry’s grip on the paper tightens and he nods once before turning his head to Liam. Liam nods and then they walk out of restaurant, Harry clutching Niall’s number in his closed fist.

\--

The next day, Liam wakes up with Harry sprawled all over his body. Liam is almost certain that Harry managed to sleep for almost the whole night, falling asleep much easier last night. Niall’s phone number lays on the nightstand, the paper wrinkled by Harry’s hand.

Liam splays a hand out on Harry’s warm back to see if he’s awake yet, and Harry stirs on him.he turns his head and looks up at Liam through his lashes.

”Morning” Liam says and rubs his hand over his back. Harry blinks once but doesn’t say anything.

Liam nods to the nightstand.

”Are you going to call him?”

Harry nods once against Liam’s chest, not breaking eye contact.

Liam takes a deep breath.

”Okay Harry, listen to my now. I know that you want someone to love you, I do know that, but I don’t want you to jump at the first person who shows a little interest. You shouldn’t settle, because you think it’s the only option you’ll get.”

Harry breathes heavily against Liam’s skin.

”You deserve the whole world, don’t settle for less.”

Liam drags a hand through Harry’s curls and then lets his hand settle on his chest next to Harry’s face. Harry lifts his trembling hand and links his forefinger with Liam’s.

”I felt sparks, when I touched his hand” he whispers and his green orbs are big, filled with wonder. Liam can help it but once more think that Harry’s somehow transformed into a child again.

”I just don’t want you to get hurt” Liam mumbles and squeezes Harry’s hand. Harry closes his eyes. Liam knows the words he doesn’t speak. He’s already hurt.

”Okay” Liam whispers. ”Do you want to call him now?”

Harry opens his eyes again and studies Liam’s face for a moment before nodding. Liam lets go of his hand and reaches out to get Harry’s phone and the number from the nightstand. He folds open the note and the numbers are scrawled down in a messy handwriting next to a small ’x’. He punches the number in and presses ‘call’ before he puts the phone in Harry’s hand.

Harry stares at it for a second before slowly bringing it to his ear. Liam can feel him shaking and wraps his arms around him. They’re both quiet for a moment, until Harry opens his mouth.

”Hello? It’s Harry” he whispers. 

Liam can hear a voice on the other end, but can’t make out any words. The voice sounds happy, and a small, tiny little smile appears on Harry’s lips.

”I’m at home with Liam.”

Silence.

”No.”

”Liam will be here, is that okay?”

Harry mumbles his address into the phone.

”Okay, I’ll see you then.”

Harry hangs up and Liam takes the phone from his hand.

”What did you decide?” he asks as Harry buries his head deeper into his chest.

”He’s coming here, in about two hours” Harry whispers back.

”Do you want me to leave?”

Harry shakes his head.

”Then I’ll stay.”

\--

Liam manages to get Harry into some clothes; just a pair of sweatpants and a loose tee shirt. He guides him over to the sofa where he bundles him up in a blanket. Harry still looks miserable, but there’s a hint of a light in his eyes that wasn’t there before. Liam puts on Animal Planet and goes to the kitchen to make them something to eat.

The omelette’s almost ready when there’s a knock on the door. Liam rubs his hands on his jeans and goes to answer. 

Niall’s standing in the door, with a hopeful smile and a plastic bag in his hand.

”Hi, Liam!” he says and pats Liam on the shoulder and shuffles past him, inviting himself inside.

”Where’s Harry?”

”Sofa.” Liam points in direction of Harry’s location. Niall nods and then toes off his shoes and hangs his jacket on a hanger. Liam sees him disappear into the sitting area but doesn’t follow him. He stands behind the wall and listens closely.

”Hi, Harry.” Niall’s voice is somewhat muffled. Liam can hear the sound of the sofa creak, just as it does when someone sits down. It’s an old sofa, Harry found it in a second hand shop when he moved out and has formed a bond too strong with it for him to throw it out.

There’s some rustling, probably coming from the plastic bag.

”I brought some films, Pringles and I’m not sure what this is, but it’s looks good.”

Liam can’t hear Harry answer but Niall’s chuckling. 

”Can I share your blanket?”

The sofa’s creaking again and when Liam peaks around the corner, he sees Niall and Harry sit close, forced together by the tightness of the blanket cocoon. Niall has somehow nestled himself so he’s sitting a little behind Harry so Harry’s partly leaning on his torso. 

It looks cute, but Liam’s not entirely sure what to think of all of this. They have no idea who Niall is, he could be a murderer for what they know. Or maybe he’s a drug dealer. To be fair, he doesn’t look like a drug dealer, but you’ll never know. Liam’s seen Breaking Bad.

He makes himself visible and clears his throat. Two pair of eyes fall on him.

”I’ve just made some omelette for me and Harry, do you want some Niall?”

Niall’s face break out into a smile. 

”Yeah, cheers mate!”

Liam nods and walk out into the kitchen. He gets out three plates from the cabinet and thinks that he really must check on his Niall. They don’t even know his surname! But maybe even more importantly - he must find out his intentions with Harry. He can’t allow Harry getting even more hurt. It’s bad enough as it is. 

He stuffs some cutlery in his pocket and then with one plate balancing on his forearm and the other two in his hands, he walks out to the others. Niall looks astonished when he sees him.

”Three plates, impressive” he says appreciatively.

”He’s a show off” Harry whispers next to him and Niall laughs.

And Liam smiles, because he doesn’t care that Harry called him a show off, partly because he knows he doesn’t mean it, but mostly because Harry hasn’t talked voluntarily in two days now. And even less, made something in the nature of a joke. 

Liam hands Niall his and Harry’s plates and they shuffle so they can get their hands free. Liam sits down in the armchair and grabs the remote. 

”What films did you bring, Niall?”

”Um, Grease, Finding Nemo and The Notebook” Niall says, a hint of shame in his voice. He turns to Harry. ”What do you want to watch?”

”Finding Nemo” Harry whispers and Niall nods approvingly. Liam takes the disc and goes to put it in the DVD player. He returns to his chair and presses play. It feels silly, three grown men in their mid twenties watching Finding Nemo, but if it’s what Harry wants to, Liam will do it. 

The film starts and yeah okay, Liam finds himself captivated by it. But it’s a good film! 

A low mumble distracts him.

”I think you should eat just a little more.”

Liam turns his head and sees Niall poking Harry’s arm with his fork. His plate his empty, just like Liam’s, while Harry’s is still almost full.

”Like, just three bites.”

Harry takes his own forks and brings a small bite of omelette to his mouth. Then another one, and one after that. Niall smiles brightly at him and Harry takes two more before setting the plate on the table.

Liam thinks that if Niall can help Harry out of this, then he doesn’t care who he is. Anyone who can help his best friend, must be okay. 

The film ends and Liam stands to stretch his legs. He takes their plates out to the kitchen and put them in the sink and when he returns to the sitting area, Niall is standing up and trying to make Harry do the same.

”What’s going on?”

Both Niall and Harry turn their heads to look at him.

”I’m trying to make Harry come out for a walk with me” Niall says lightly and tugs at Harry’s hand again.

And maybe Niall can help him, maybe he can make it better.

”You should go out with Niall” Liam says and smiles encouragingly at Harry. Harry doesn’t say anything. Niall tugs at his hand again.

”Come on, we won’t go far.”

Harry lets himself be tugged to standing and if he wouldn’t slouch his shoulders so much, he’d be taller than Niall. Liam hopes he’ll get to see it happen.

Niall drags Harry to the hallway and hands him his jacket. Harry stands with it in his trembling hand and he turns to look at Liam. Liam smiles encouragingly again. Harry puts on his jacket with slow motions and then sits down on the floor to put on his shoes. Liam hands him his beanie and then pulls him off to standing. He gathers him in his arms and hugs him hard.

”You’ll be fine” he whispers in his hair and feels Harry swallow hard. He lets go and then Niall grabs Harry’s hand. Harry’s head turn to look down at their entwined hands, a motion faster than anything Liam’s seen him do in the past three days. 

Niall squeezes Harry’s hand and then opens the door. He pulls him outside with him and shouts a ”bye, Liam, see ya soon” before the door shuts again.

Liam does realise that he might just have handed his almost catatonic best friend in the hands of a serial killer. He also realises that saying ”well, sometimes you gotta take risks” doesn’t justify it, because again, it’s the life of his best friend.

But Liam’s got this, feeling? The feeling that Niall might be very important, that he can save Harry from this hell that he’s going throw. That maybe he can be more than Liam.

Liam goes to do the dishes and then he changes the sheets in Harry’s bed. He puts on a washing machine and takes out the rubbish. He’s watching telly when the door opens and he hears Niall’s cheery voice. He quickly scrambles to his feet and goes to meet them.

Niall’s giving Harry a small peck on the cheek and Harry is blushing furiously. Liam smiles, because maybe he’s right. He likes being right.

”I gotta go, see you later, mate” Niall says and shoots Liam a smile.

”All right, see you later” Liam says and watches as Niall squeezes Harry’s hand one last time before disappearing out of the door. The second the door shuts, Harry turns to Liam.

He’s not smiling, but his eyes don’t look as dead as they’ve done these past few days. Some of their brightness have returned and Liam almost wants to kiss him because of it. He doesn’t, instead he helps Harry take his jacket off and then leads him into the kitchen where he guides him to a chair.

”So, how was it?” he asks as he puts on the kettle. Harry fiddles with his hands on the table.

”He’s amazing” he whispers and he looks at Liam and he looks almost - scared?

”He stopped to help an old lady cross the road and he smiled at everyone and asked about my favourite music and picked up rubbish from the sidewalk” Harry continues, still whispering.

”Isn’t that a good thing? He sounds like a proper decent human to me” Liam says and pours the hot water into two mugs. 

”But why does he care about me?”

The whispered question hit Liam like a punch in the stomach. The weakness in it, the vulnerability. The proof that Harry, his best friend and the most amazing person in the whole world, thinks that he’s not good enough.

Liam brings the two mugs with tea to the table and sits not opposite Harry. He slides one mug over to him and takes a sip of his own.

”You deserve to be happy, Harry” he says carefully. 

Harry lifts his mug with two hands and takes a sip. His hands don’t shake that much.

”Do you like him? Niall?”

Harry looks up from his tea and nods once.

”Yeah” he whispers. ”He brings light.”

Liam has to lean his upper body over the table to squeeze his hand.

”Did you talk anything about seeing each other again?”

Harry nods again.

”He mentioned it.”

There’s a short silence and Liam sighs.

”About tomorrow,” he says and leans back in his chair again. ”I have to go to work, I can’t afford taking the day off.”

He hates having to do this to his best friend, but it’s the way it has to be. Liam’s already been in trouble with his landlord once for being late with the rent and if he doesn’t get enough payed this month he won’t be able to pay it and then he’ll probably get thrown out.

Harry looks at him and nods.

”I understand” he whispers.

”You know I want to stay with you, right?”

Harry nods and looks down at his mug. He takes another sip.

”Are you going to work or are you staying home?”

”I don’t think I can go” Harry mumbles, his shoulders slouching.

”And that’s okay” Liam says, trying to sound convincing. ”I can call in for you, if you want.”

Harry nods slowly.

”Thanks, Liam.”

”You don’t have to thank me, Harry. I’d do anything for you, you know that right?”

Harry takes another sip of his tea.

Liam stays until Harry’s asleep before he gathers his things and leave the flat. In a way, it’s going to be nice going home; wear his own clothes, sleep in his own bed and get some routine back. Surround himself with some positivity. But he can’t help feeling bad about it. Bad about leaving his friend when he clearly needs him, bad about feeling relieved that he gets to leave. He doesn’t want to be that person, but it can’t be healthy to be surrounded with that much sadness and negativity for a whole weekend. 

When Liam opens the door to his own flat, the clock’s about to strike 3. He’s dead tired and about to fall asleep standing, so he just goes straight to bed. It feels a bit weird sleeping alone after being wrapped around Harry for the past three nights. It feels lonely in a way he hasn’t felt since he left his last relationship, and for the first time he thinks that he can almost feel some of the loneliness Harry feels constantly.

And Liam wonders how Harry could survive this long without breaking sooner.

\--

Liam calls Harry sick in for work the first thing he does when he wake up and the secretary asks him to send Harry her condolences for being in bed with the flu, ”the poor thing”.

Then he calls Harry during his lunch break (mostly because he wants to know how he’s feeling but also because he hasn’t not spoken to Harry during a lunch break for months). Harry answers on the fifth ring.

”Hello, Liam.”

It’s not really a whisper, but not his usual voice either. It sounds tired and lifeless. 

”What are you doing, Harry?”

”I’m in bed.”

”Have you eaten anything today?”

The lack of answer is a good enough answer for Liam.

”Can you make a cup of tea and have a sandwich?”

There’s a long pause but then Harry breathes out a ”yes” and Liam hears shuffling in the background. 

”The water’s boiling now” comes a whisper and okay, Harry’s returned to whispering. Liam’s not sure if it’s good or bad. Probably bad.

”That’s great, Harry. Make sure you drink it, too, okay?”

There’s a mumble for answer but Liam reasons it’s good enough. He tells Harry that he’ll come over after work and that Harry can call him anytime if he needs something.

”I know that, Liam. I know that.”

Harry sounds so honest and grateful that Liam almost starts to cry over his Caesar salad. He has to hang up after that because it’s not really acceptable for a grown man in his mid twenties bawling over salad.

Liam shows up at Harry’s door 20 minutes after he finished work. He’s never been so quick to get away from there before, and his coworkers had looked strangely at him. 

Liam lets himself in with his key and then goes to find Harry. He finds him in bed, hugging a pillow close to his chest. There’s a half empty cup of cold tea on the nightstand and a few crumbles. Liam’s heart swells at the evidence that Harry actually did as he said, and ate.

Harry looks at Liam with tired eyes as he undresses down to his boxers and slip in under the covers with Harry. His best friend easily slots himself in the crook of Liam’s arm and hugs him instead in exchange for the pillow. Liam kisses his arm and sighs.

And the hours pass. Harry changes position once; laying flat on his back and grabbing Liam so he’s laying on top of him and well, that’s new. Harry wraps his arms around Liam’s middle and buries his head in the crook of Liam’s neck and Liam can’t help but feeling like a life-sized teddy bear. He links his ankle with Harry’s and slowly graze the skin on his neck with his fingertips.

He just wants Harry to feel safe and protected and loved but he doesn’t know how to show him.

He just wants Harry to laugh and smile and talk properly again.

He just wants Harry to be happy and feel like he’s enough.

Liam presses himself closer to Harry in pure desperation, because there has to be some way to show him and then the doorbell rings. Liam’s head jerks and he lifts himself up on his arms. He looks down on Harry.

”Did you order food?”

Harry glares at him and yeah. That was stupid.

Liam gets up and puts on a pair of sweatpants and his tee shirt. Harry doesn’t get up, instead he grabs a pillow to his chest and hugs it close again. Liam sends him a small smile before disappearing out of the bedroom.

When he opens the door, he’s met with Niall’s face.

”Hey, Liam! Harry in?” Niall asks cheerily and tries to peak around Liam’s shoulder.

”Wh- yeah, he’s in bed” Liam says and is forced to move sideways when Niall squeezes past him. ”Sorry, I didn’t know you were coming.”

”Oh no, it wasn’t planned. I just wanted to see how he’s doing.”

”Oh.” Liam scratches at the skin on his wrist. ”Why are you doing this, Niall?”

Niall, who is currently bending down to untie his shoe, peers up at Liam.

”Whaddya mean?”

”Just - this. Harry. Why do you care?”

Niall straightens out and gives Liam a look that’s almost - judgemental? Disapproving?

”Why wouldn’t I?”

”But you don’t, you don’t know him.” Liam is starting to feel a little uncomfortable under Niall’s look.

”Harry hasn’t told me anything about him, that’s right. But he’s special, I can tell that. And I like special people” Niall says and holds his chin high.

Liam contemplates this for a second.

”You promise you won’t hurt him?”

”Cross my heart” Niall says, instantly back to the cheery lad who walked through the door. He draws a cross on his chest with his finger. ”You’ll be a great father, mate.”

And Liam can’t help but smile at that.

He walks back to the bedroom with Niall on his heel. Harry turns his head slightly to be able to look at them when they enter. Liam notices the change in his face when he sees Niall; how his eyes open a bit more, the hint of a smile appearing on his lips. 

”Niall” he breathes out and Liam suddenly feels like he’s invading something really private.

”Hi Hazza, how are you?” Niall sits down on the bed. Harry doesn’t seem to react on the nickname that Liam’s never heard before.

”Can I join you?” Niall pats the sheets.

Harry looks at Liam with a look Liam can’t read. He blinks slowly and Liam nods.

”I have to go home” he says and Niall turns to look at him.

”Yeah alright” he says, and doesn’t look upset by it at all. 

Liam quickly slip out of the sweatpants and into his own jeans. When he leaves, he turns around in time to see Niall stripping out of his own trousers and Harry lifting his duvet up for him.

And Liam smiles to himself.

\--

It’s actually Harry who calls him during his lunch break the next day. Liam almost starts to panic when he sees the caller ID because the last time Harry called him he had broken down to pieces and what if it’s happened again?

”Hi, Liam.” It’s not a whisper but not quite his normal voice yet. 

”Um, you don’t have to come over after work, N-Niall’s here.”

Liam can almost hear the faint blush on his cheeks on the other end of the line. He has to force himself to swallow a cheeky comment because really, it’s not the time.

”That’s great” he says instead. ”What are you doing?”

”He came quite early and first we just lay in bed and we’re going for a walk now, I think.”

Harry sounds almost excited and Liam feels a happy warmth spread in his chest.

But still, there’s a small, very small but still there, part of him that’s jealous. He knows! He knows it’s irrational and stupidstupidstupid and selfish and he should probably go to hell for it, but he can’t help it. It’s not that he doesn’t want Harry to be with Niall, because he does. He wants Harry to be happy. But he can’t help but feel like Harry’s replacing him.

Wasn’t it Liam who came over in the middle of the night? Wasn’t it Liam who helped him in the shower? Wasn’t it Liam who got him something to eat? Wasn’t it Liam who was the reason he met Niall at all?

He doesn’t think he’s able to claim Harry or something, it’s not that he just wants him for himself. But he’s his best friend. This was supposed to be his duty. And now, Niall’s just swooped in and - replaced him.

Liam hates himself for it, but he can’t help but feel a little left behind.

”Do you want me to call you in sick tomorrow?”

”No, I think, I think it’s time to go back” Harry sighs on the other end.

”That’s great, Harry!”

Someone’s talking in the background, probably Niall. 

”Yeah, I guess.” Harry doesn’t sound too happy about going back, though. ”But I gotta go, okay? Niall wants to go out now.”

”Oh, okay. Well, I’ll talk to you later, yeah?” Liam can’t help but feel that sting of jealousy, that feeling of being neglected. He notices how insecure his tone sounds, suddenly.

”Yeah, of course, Liam.” Harry must’ve registered Liam’s insecurity as well, because he sounds a little surprised.

”Of course I’ll talk to you later, Liam.”

”Good. That’s, good.”

They hang up, and even though Harry sincerely promised him, Liam can’t get rid of that feeling in his stomach.

After work, he goes to visit Louis at work. Louis works in a pub a few bus stations away from Liam’s work. It’s small enough to not have too many costumers this early in the day, which Liam appreciates. 

Louis stands behind the bar disk with his back towards the wall when Liam enters and takes a seat on his side of the bar. His friend turns around and a big smile appears on his lips. He puts down the glass he was drying and leans over to give Liam an awkward one-armed hug.

”You alright, mate? Is Harry okay?”

Liam had told both Louis and Zayn about the whole Harry situation. Well, he’d just said that Harry was feeling very low at the moment, hadn’t really gone into details. And he hadn’t told anyone about Niall.

This changes now. Liam spills everything but the most intimate bits, but he tells Louis how Niall suddenly turned up in their lives and the black feeling of rejection in his heart. Louis just looks at him and pours him a pint of Guiness that he slides over the desk. He’s good at listening, Louis. He can be very immature and playful but he always knows when to focus and when he does, he does it better than anyone else.

”Should I phone Zayn?” he asks when Liam’s finished and takes a sip of the beer. Liam nods, because why not. Zayn’s pretty good at listening, too.

Zayn works just across the road from Louis, luckily enough. He’s a graphic designer and wears cool clothes and nice boots. He developed a good sense of fashion when he graduated from uni which is good, because when Liam knew him back then, he looked more like a homeless person than a uni student.

He arrives within five minutes and plops down on the stool next to Liam. Makes Louis pour him a pint and takes a swig before turning all his attention to Liam.

And Liam tells the story again. It feels good to hear it out loud, gives it some perspective. But it feels even better to know that his closest friends (well, apart from Harry) knows. And that they know him well enough to know how to handle the situation.

”You’re not being replaced, Liam” Zayn tells him. ”You’re the most important person in Harry’s life.”

Louis nods on the other side of the bar.

”Yeah, I know, but, it feels like it.”

Louis stretches over the bar and clasps his hand. Zayn pats him on the shoulder.

”You’ve been great” Louis says. ”And I know that means the world to Harry.”

Liam’s so, so glad that he has Zayn and Louis. He smiles and drinks some of his beer. Louis claps his hands together and swings his towel up on his shoulder.

”Guess what the missus did yesterday?”

Louis’ gotten into the bad habit of calling his fiancee missus since he proposed to her a few months back. It was all very romantic, Liam and the boys helped him prepare for it. Louis wanted to propose on a picnic, preferably on a hill with a marching band and lots of roses.

Harry managed to find a good hill not too far away in a park and put up signs that told everyone to keep away so that no one would accidentally disturb the proposing. Zayn talked to the marching band from their uni and convinced them to hide in the bushes with their instruments until Louis popped the question. And Liam got the food; this really good cheese and strawberries and a bottle of champagne and those sweets he knows they both like.

What Louis did? Well, he made a playlist with romantic music. But mostly he was just nervous. For nothing, of course. It all went very smooth; Liam, Harry and Zayn hid in the bushes with the marching band to film it and take pictures. There were some tears from everyone involved and cheering and stupid singing but it was good.

Anyway, Louis proceeds to tell a story about how his missus suddenly got the idea of changing places on everything in the kitchen and now Louis can’t find anything. He leads a very interesting life. This gets Zayn going on something his own girlfriend has done, Liam’s not really listening. But if feels so nice to sit there with his friends, without having to look into sad eyes. It feels good to laugh.

So Liam decides not to worry.

\--

During the next two weeks, Harry has lunch with Liam every day at work. It’s not exactly the way it used to, Harry’s not smiling as much and the cheery tone in his voice isn’t back just yet. But he’s eating well and he talks a lot about Niall.

He sees Niall every day, apparently. Niall either comes over to Harry’s after work or Harry comes to him. Harry tells Liam that Niall lives in a small flat, even smaller than Liam’s. But it doesn’t feel small, even though it’s filled with things. Niall collects everything. He has books filled with pressed flowers, a shelf covered in sea shells he’s collected from all over the world, movie tickets taped on his wall and there’s blankets everywhere.

They eat lunch at the restaurant where Niall works, one day. It’s so different compared to the last time they were there. 

Liam sees how Harry lights up the second he spots Niall with his back turned towards them. And he sees Niall’s smile when he notices Harry. They hug, wrap their arms hard around each other and Niall presses a kiss to the corner of Harry’s mouth.

Niall jokes with them when he takes their order and he’s really funny. Liam’s stomach hurts from how much he laughs. He can see what Harry sees in him. Harry doesn’t laugh, even though Liam knows he normally would. But he smiles, not his biggest smile, but he smiles. He talks more when Niall’s around, too.

And Liam can’t find it in himself to be jealous anymore, because sometimes when Niall says something funny, or touch Harry’s hand, Harry will look at Liam. It’s almost like he’s asking for permission, like he’s asking Liam if it’s okay. Liam doesn’t really know why he does it, but the thing that Zayn said always appear in his mind. He’s the most important person in Harry’s life.

Harry asks him one day over lunch what he thinks of Niall.

”I like him a lot” Liam says and brings a spoonful of chicken soup to his mouth. He can see that Harry isn’t really satisfied with the answer and sets the spoon down again.

”He’s a good person, Harry. And I think he’s really good for you. I’m glad you’ve met him.”

Harry smiles shyly at that and a faint blush appears on his cheeks.

He takes Niall to meet Zayn and Louis shortly after that, brings him down to the bar where Louis works. Louis and Niall immediately hit it off and if Liam didn’t know better, he’d assume they’d been friends since forever. He sees Harry smiling at their interaction and he thinks that yeah, meeting Niall was a good thing.

\--

Liam, Niall and Harry are out for a walk in the park not far from Liam’s flat. It’s a bit chilly and Niall is wearing Harry’s gloves because he forgot his own. The two of them hold hands as they walk and Liam doesn’t mind third wheeling at all.

”Oh, look!” Niall exclaims and points his free hand in the left direction. ”A duck pond!”

He lets go of Harry’s hand and jogs over to it. Harry follows him with his eyes and Liam tugs on his sleeve to get him to sit down on a nearby bench. They sit down and Harry warms his hands between his thighs. 

Niall looks over to them and blows a kiss at Harry before turning back to trying to feed the ducks with grass. It’s not going very well. 

”I don’t want to be that kind of person who depends so much on another person, you know?” Harry suddenly says and Liam turns to look at him. Harry’s looking at Niall.

”It’s just, I think he’s my person.”

Harry turns his head to look Liam in the eyes.

”Thank you for bringing me to him.”

Liam breaks his gaze to look at Niall. The blond man is crouching on the grass, leaning out over the dirty water, obviously trying to coax a duck into eating from his palm. It’s ridiculous but it’s Niall.

They haven’t declared themselves as boyfriends, even though it’s been almost three months now since they met. Liam thinks that maybe they don’t need to say it, it’s just something they know. Just like Niall knew from the beginning that Harry is someone special and Harry knew that Niall brings light into his life.

Harry’s smile these days is almost as bright as it used to be. Liam can see the light fading from his eyes sometimes and it’s during times like that, that he makes sure to squeeze his hand extra hard.

”You will find happiness, Harry” he says and turns his head back to look at his best friend again. ”You’re almost there.”

Harry smiles softly at him and then looks at Niall who’s laughing at something. 

”Yeah,” Harry says. ”I think so, too.”


End file.
